BEIT: Adult Jewish Learning

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Sleep In the Bible: Nothing New Under the Sun

Trouble sleeping and sleep disorders are very common. With such a large number of the population at risk today, one wonders which sleep complaints were common before modern discoveries of these disorders. What did our forefathers and foremothers have to say about sleep? How did the Bible and Talmud conceptualize sleep and the problems associated with it? Understanding the classic texts may help us better interpret what we know today, put into perspective how far we have (or have not) come and clarify what questions we might still need to ask.
 
Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus and Professor of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and the Center of Circadian Biology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. Dr. Ancoli-Israel’s expertise is in the field of sleep disorders and circadian rhythms particularly in normal aging and neurogenerative disease, and in cancer. Her research has included studies on the longitudinal effect of sleep disorders on aging, therapeutic interventions for sleep problems in dementia, and in the relationship between sleep, fatigue and circadian rhythms in cancer.
 
Within the San Diego Jewish community, Sonia is a Past-President of Congregation Beth El and was chair of the UJF Community Relations Committee Annual Holocaust Commemoration and the inspiration behind Beth El’s Holocaust Memorial Wall. Sonia was a participant in the Wexner Heritage Foundation program which provided training and education for lay leaders in the Jewish community.  

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The Passover Haggadah, A Biography
Telling the story behind our most familiar Jewish text

Every year at Passover, Jews around the world gather for the Seder. The Passover Haggadah used at the Seder is a religious text unlike any other. There are so many varieties. How did this text emerge from antiquity and oral practice to its vibrant proliferation today? Come explore the origins of the Haggadah and the history of its development and variety over time.
 
Rabbi Vanessa Ochs is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and an ordained rabbi. Her book, Inventing Jewish Ritual won the National Jewish Book Award.

Pandemic Lessons for Passover

Rabbi Ron Shulman

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Jews and Their Diasporas

Through the ages, Jews have lived in various diasporas, building homes, raising families, and creating a remarkable religious life. In those homes they not only longed for a future redemption, but they also argued for the legitimacy of their diaspora existence, even to the point of equating their current home with “Zion.” In these three sessions, we will consider biblical works, rabbinic teachings, and medieval-early modern Jewish writings “de-fending diaspora.

”We are delighted to welcome Dr. David Kraemer to our BEIT program. Dr. Kraemer is Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics and Librarian at the Jewish Theological seminary of America. Dr. Kraemer’s  focus as a professor is on the literary analysis of rabbinic literature, rabbinic ritual, and the social and religious history of Jews in late antiquity. Dr. Kraemer is a prolific author and commentator.

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Together and Apart: The Future of Jewish Peoplehood

Dr. Ray Fink is a Past President of Congregation Beth El, a respected physician in our community, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Shalom Hartman Institute.
 

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Torah Reading

Learn to read Torah or grow your Torah reading skills. If you wish, read Torah on occasional  Shabbat mornings as member of our Torah  reading squad. We meet on a regular basis to teach Torah trope to beginners, review trope  with more experienced readers, and practice  upcoming Torah readings.

Dr. Ran Anbar, is board certified in  both pediatric pulmonology and  general pediatrics, offering hypnosis and counseling services. As an active member of Congregation Beth El, Ran is our Torah reading coordinator who can be found each Shabbat reading, or assisting other to read, from the Torah Scroll.

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Embracing Auschwitz

The Judaism of Sinai and the Judaism of Auschwitz are merging, resulting in new visions of Judaism that are only beginning to take shape. Any new expression of Judaism today must place the  Holocaust experience directly at its core or it  will not be authentic. But just as it cannot ignore the abyss, any modern expression of Judaism must also affirm joy, beauty, and moral grounding or it will not survive. Jewish revitalization will be assured when grandchildren of survivors and  others of their generation can begin to take  the darkness of the Shoah and turn it into song, absorbing the absurdity of a silent God while  loving life nonetheless.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman is an award winning journalist and blogger who has served Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT for over three decades. Rabbi Hammerman earned degrees from Brown University and New York University in Journalism, and ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

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Yiddish Poets Confront Racism

How have Jewish writers used memories of trauma to confront race violence in the United States? In this session, Amelia Glaser will discuss her work on Yiddish poetry about racial injustice in the 1930s, and will introduce a few little-known Yiddish writers who connected pogroms the rise of Hitler to anti-Black violence in the US. In the 1930s, poems about lynchings were part of a broader movement among Yiddish writers, who, faced with the rising threats of fascism in Europe and racism in the US, chose to write to promote social justice on both sides of the Atlantic.

Amelia Glaser’s most recent book, Songs in Dark Times: Yiddish Poetry of Struggle from Scottsboro to Palestine, has just been published by Harvard University Press. Dr. Glaser is Associate Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature at UC San Diego, where she directs the Jewish Studies Program, as well as the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program.

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Triumph, Tragedy and Loneliness: Great Modern Jewish Thinkers

How can Jews today develop serious, spiritual lives in a world filled with technological distractions, material ambitions, social pressures, and now the looming threat of violence and disease? How do find room in the heart for deep intimacy during these pressure-filled times? In this class, we’ll grapple with the writings of Abraham Heschel, Joseph Soloveichick, and David Hartman, each of whom developed a system of personal, existential spirituality designed to balance the unprecedented challenges of modern life. We’ll read from Heschel’s The Sabbath, Soloveichick’s Lonely Man of Faith, and a variety of works from David Hartman, and learn how these great thinkers continue to teach and inspire.

Rabbi Philip Graubart served as our Senior Rabbi at Congregation Beth El for fifteen years. Most recently, he was a vice president at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and director of Jewish life and learning at the San Diego Jewish Academy where he currently teaches.

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American Jewish Food

Join Dr. Zollman in an exploration of American Jewish Food. We’ll ask what Jewish food is. We’ll learn about the history of the Jewish Deli in America, and look into what the connection is between American Jews and Chinese food. Come hungry to learn!

Joellyn Zollman, Ph.D has taught Jewish history at SDSU, UCSD, and the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture. She recently curated Celebrate, Commemorate! The History and Heritage of San Diego’s Jewish Community, an exhibition at the San Diego History Center.

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Torah Reading

Learn to read Torah or grow your Torah reading skills. If you wish, read Torah on occasional Shabbat mornings as member of our Torah reading squad. We meet on a regular basis to teach Torah trope to beginners, review trope with more experienced readers, and practice upcoming Torah readings. 

Dr. Ran Anbar, is board certified in both pediatric pulmonology and general pediatrics, offering hypnosis and counseling services. As an active member of Congregation Beth El, Ran is our Torah reading coordinator who can be found each Shabbat reading, or assisting other to read, from the Torah Scroll.

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Touring & Torah: Exploring Israel and Judaism
Rabbi Hannah Estrin
November 5, 12, & 19

•    Jerusalem: Reflections with Yehuda Amichai. Considered one of the most important Israeli poets of his generation, Yehuda Amichai did not shy away from bringing to the light some of Israel's challenges. His poetry contains an honest look at both joyous and painful emotions in his lifetime. Together, we will explore and reflect upon a few of the themes found in his poems.
•    Tzfat: Kabbalat Shabbat and the Blue Town.  Visit the city of Tzfat where 'The Expulsion', Kabbalah and the Ottoman Empire intersect with Judaism. Meet the Rabbis who gather here and travel with them to better understand the historical and spiritual context of our Kabbalat Shabbat service today.
•    Israel: 100 Years, Dreaming of Deliverance. From the time of Abraham and Moses, the dream of the Land of Israel has never ceased.   Since Theodore Herzl stood on the bow of a ship headed toward Palestine that dream has slowly come to fruition once again. Join together to race the borders, the politics, and the lives of the land, from the British through today.

Rabbi Hannah Estrin is an engaging tour guide and educator living in Jerusalem. Her teaching explores the intersection of text, spirituality and Israel with the self. She loves to live the mitzvah of "you shall walk the length and breadth of the land" and is often found out on a trail when not sharing with others.

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Listening, Justice and Peace - Lessons from our Tradition in an Era of Polarity
Dr. Ray Fink
November 5, 12, & 19

Join Dr. Ray Fink to explore textual and conceptual insights and values from Jewish tradition appropriate for these challenging times in which we are living.

Dr. Ray Fink is a Past President of Congregation Beth El, a respected physician in our community, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Shalom Hartman Institute.

COVID & Covenant: The Impact of this Pandemic on Jewish Belief
Rabbi Ron Shulman
November 5, 12, & 19

COVID-19 will likely have an impact on Jewish theology and thought into the future. We will come out of this pandemic with questions about Jewish belief past, present, and future. Jewish ideas always reflect a dialogue between traditional Judaism and contemporary experience. Does our experience during these pandemic days impact what we believe or what older or newer Jewish ideas we think are important? Rabbi Shulman invites you to read a few thought pieces with him and think through this question.

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Casual Conversation
Rabbi Ron Shulman
November 5

After our BEIT I Experience learning, for those who wish to, we’ll spend some time on Zoom together in casual conversation. We don’t get the chance to spend time together in person these days, so let’s spend a little virtual time together reflecting and connecting.
 

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The Words of My Father
Love and Pain in Palestine
Mr. Yousef Bashir
November 12

Yousef Bashir grew up in Gaza. Standing in his front yard with his father and three United Nations observers, he was shot in the spine by an Israeli soldier, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for a year. Israeli doctors treated him and helped him learn to walk again. In the wake of that experience, Yousef was forced to reckon with the words of his father who believed strongly in coexisting peacefully with his Israeli neighbors. Like the empathetic man who raised him, Yousef became an outspoken activist for peace with Israel. His story is one of moral awakening in which the ideals of peace and empathy are a soothing balm for these troubled times.

Yousef Bashir is a Palestinian American from the Gaza Strip who made his way to the United States where he earned a B.A. in International Affairs form Northeastern University and an M.A in Co-Existence and Conflict from Brandeis University. Now living and working in Washington D.C. Yousef Bashir is a vigorous advocate of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

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Conservative Judaism Today
Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal
November 19

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal serves as both the Chief Executive of the Rabbinical Assembly and as the Chief Executive Officer of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. In this new dual role, Rabbi Blumenthal seeks to create a dynamic new spirit of collaboration and renewal for Conservative synagogues and their leadership. Come meet Rabbi Blumenthal as he and Rabbi Shulman dialogue about who we are and what we seek as members of Conservative synagogues today.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal was the founding rabbi of Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, Maryland and also helped create Washington, D.C.’s Ramah Day Camp and local outreach programs to millennials. He is regarded as a communal innovator and entrepreneur.
 

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